Freddy Shepherd: no winners in Keegangate. Although Hughton might get £5m.
Posted on October 4th, 2009 | 26 Comments |
Freddy said:
“There are no winners [I say no winners, you listening to me boy] in this case. There are only losers – the club and its fans. Kevin Keegan and Mike Ashley are just passing through – it is the institution of Newcastle United that is damaged by this episode.
“During my time at Newcastle, when a manager left we always managed to sort it out amicably and agree on a settlement.
“And when Ruud Gullit left he agreed to waive all his rights to compensation. Gullit is the most honourable man I have ever met in football.
“Things weren’t going well and he came to me and told me he had lost the fans. He told me he wanted to go quietly and didn’t want a penny paid into his bank account. There aren’t many men of that calibre in the game. He showed he had true class and integrity [and I aint no chickenhawk, chickenhawk that is].”
If press reports are to be believed though, Chris Hughton will benefit from the fact that the payout to be made by the club is only £2m. Apparently Ashley had set aside £8m to pay off Keegan and Hughton will now get £5m of that to spend on players in January.
The Mirror, on whose esteemed authority I’m basing this report, believes Barry Moat’s £80m bid for the club will be ratified this week, although their ‘sources’ can’t be too reliable because the next sentence begins with “But even if it isn’t …” and goes on to suggest that if the deal isn’t ratified Mike Ashley is prepared to hand over £5m in transfer funds.
The Mirror claims that Ashley and Moat are both agreed that strategic strengthening of the squad is the way to go, ensuring that we can bounce straight back to the Premier League at the end of the season.
Morning Hugh
It seems that the Daily Mirror are making it up as usual. How can Ashley provide Hughton with a transfer kitty in January if he is selling the club this week and Hughton clearly wouldn’t be the manager? Load of tosh.
Regarding Fat Fred’s comments, didn’t someone mention on here a few days ago that Sir Bobby sued the club after he was dismissed? I don’t know if that’s true but I’m sure someone will enlighten me?